Delayed Charges Say Ex-inmate Bit Guard

The Orange-Osceola state attorney's office will file charges against a former jail inmate who a guard claims might have given him AIDS by biting him, an office spokesman said Thursday.

The guard has filed a workers' compensation suit against the sheriff's office over the incident Oct. 9.

An attorney representing the guard criticized both the sheriff's office and the state attorney's office for not filing charges sooner. Attorney Hal Uhrig also criticized the two agencies for releasing the inmate Dec. 18, before filing new charges against him.

State attorney's spokesman Tim Hetz said the release won't delay prosecution because the man was released on probation and can be found.

According to a sheriff's office report, the guard was assaulted in the inmate's cell at the 33rd Street jail. The inmate had become violent while being examined by a nurse, the report said.

Attorneys representing the guard, who has asked not to be identified, and county health officials said that tests on the inmate subsequently showed he had AIDS antibodies in his system.

That means he could have been exposed to the disease and may be a carrier, county health officials said. According to his attorneys, tests on the guard have shown no signs that the disease was transmitted.

The sheriff's office sent a report of the assault to the state attorney's office Oct. 30, 21 days after the incident. On Nov. 19, the decision was made to file charges, but according to Hetz, the information Thursday was in a pile of about 200 charges waiting to be approved by State Attorney Robert Eagan or one of two assistants.

Uhrig, who was legal adviser to Sheriff Mel Colman, criticized the sheriff's office for holding onto the report for three weeks.

''I don't want to be on record as accusing anyone of doing anything for improper motives,'' he said. ''I spent four years there, and I know what is usual. Under normal circumstances, charges would be filed immediately.

''The guards feel like second- and third-class citizens,'' he said. ''If someone on the street does this, they get arrested right away. But a guard is assaulted, and they lose the paperwork.''

Sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said he had no explanation for why charges were not filed sooner.

The inmate was released last week after serving 57 days. He pleaded guilty in September to petty theft and prostitution charges, Hetz said. He was sentenced Dec. 18 to two years of probation and a $500 fine on a concealed weapons charge arising from his time in jail.

Hetz said charges should have been filed about two weeks ago, but said a staff shortage has delayed charges in several cases recently. He said assistant state attorneys handling the misdemeanor charges should have told those handling the felony complaint, but didn't.

Both he and Uhrig questioned why jail officials didn't tell someone when the inmate was released so that charges could have been filed immediately. Solomons couldn't say why jail officials didn't tell anyone.